“I came to cast fire upon the earth.” —Luke 12:49 Fire! What single word more immediately commands people’s attention? No sane and moral person would ever consider yelling the word fire in a public place, […]
Because we are rational human beings, it is best for us not only to do God’s will, but also first to know God’s will and […]
On April 19, 2005, I was in the fifth of my six years of seminary formation, serving as an intern at a rural parish in the northeastern part of the Archdiocese of Detroit. That morning, […]
The celebration of Christmas has a way of amplifying our ordinary family experience. For a loving and harmonious family, Christmas tends to be the time when its familial bonds are tightened. The members of such […]
A surprising number of Christmas carols were written under extremely trying circumstances in the world or in the lives of their creators. One such carol is “Do You Hear What I Hear,” the lyrics of […]
“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if […]
Ave crux spes unica. Hail to the Cross, our only hope. What are the implications of this hope for Christian discipleship as it is lived in this world? The English priest and apologist, Msgr. Ronald […]
Before establishing the feast of Corpus Christi in 1264, Pope Urban IV called upon the services of St. Thomas Aquinas for the composition of prayers and hymns for the liturgical celebration of the feast. These […]
If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth. For you have […]
“The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.” The French Catholic author Léon Bloy wrote these words in his 1897 novel La Femme […]
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